As the Lady Insists
by sami1397
Summary: In an attempt to escape her alcoholic boyfriend, Emma seeks refuge for the night in a strangers home. who knew this stranger would be so...loving.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

"Help! Someone open up! Help Me!" Emma's fist pounded on the door so hard it hurt. But she didn't care all she cared about was getting away from him. She looked over her shoulder and saw his car racing down the long driveway. "please! He's getting closer! He's going to hurt me! Help!" tears were streaming down her face as he got closer. Images of what he has done to her while drunk flit across her mind. She opens her mouth to shout again as the door is thrown open. A man in flannel pajama pants thrust a phone in her hand and begins to make his way to the car in his driveway.

"Get inside and call the police. Tell them I have a gun." He demands and lifts his hand holding said gun as if to prove to her he does. Emma quickly shuts the door and dials 911 with trembling hands.

"_911 what's your emergenc-_"

"he's going to hurt me! He's outside and I have a gun. I will use it if he tries to hurt me" so what if it's a lie? She was willing to say anything as long as the police get here. And she sure didn't have time to explain everything on the phone. It's a miracle the woman over the phone was able to understand her through her sobs.

"_alright hun I need a location so I can send some help." _the operator said soothingly. how she remained so calm and collected was beyond her.

"um, I-I don't know. I'm i-in someone's house. On-n Carpenter road uh- past th-the McDonalds."

"_okay sweetie help is on the way. I need you to stay on the line with me. You said you were in a house? Whose house is it?" _

"yes. Um I don't really kno-" the man in pajama pants walked into the house and slammed the door.

"he's gone for now. Shouldn't be back tonight. I think I scared him well enough," he said with a slightly proud tone to his voice.

"oh, um-" she redirected her attention back to the operator and watched the man leave into a back room. "he-he's gone now"

"_oh that's excellent news! The police will secure the area so if you see anyone around the property, it'll be them. Could you give me a description…."_ The questioning commenced for about 10 more minutes. After answering the questions and receiving a few comforting words from the surprisingly personable operator, she hung up the phone and handed it to the man who had returned from the back room.

He handed her the small pile of folded pajamas he brought with him, "here. They're my girlfriend's. if you want to stay for tonight until the police have made sure he's gone, you're more than welcome."

"oh uh, I don't think I should-"

"you want to go around with him still out there? Drunk, desperate men are very dangerous."

She hesitated a moment before taking the clothes. This guy can't be too bad. He did just save her, a stranger to him. she'll leave before he wakes up. "thank you."

"bathroom is down the hall to the right."

After taking some time to change and wash her face, she composes herself and makes her way to the front room. She walked out and saw him draping some sheets over the couch. "oh please stop, I've got that. I don't want to keep you up any later." She moves to grab the bedding from his hands but not before she moved them out of her reach.

"I don't think so lass. A gentleman always helps a damsel in distress." He says with a wink. She was taken aback. His anger earlier had obviously been diminished. Emma couldn't help but notice the thick Irish accent he spoke with. How could she not have noticed before?

_Same reason you didn't notice how sexy he is in just his pj pants. You were in a panic._

_Shut up brain._

"im not in distress! I am perfectly fine!" she flashed him a smile as if to prove her point.

"sure you're not. Especially not after what just happened. You've got it all under control don't you?" he responded sarcastically and flashed a bright smile right back. "perhaps a compromise? I'll prepare your bed and you can choose a film. Hows that?"

Well that's a stupid compromise if I've ever heard one. She smiled and rolled her eye, then begrudgingly obliged. She turned to the bookshelf next to the tv, full of vhs tapes.

_Seriously? VHS? Talk about a throwback._

"101 Dalmatians? Hercules? Are all these Disney movies for your kids?" her fingers ran along the row of classic Disney tapes. There were three entire rows dedicated to Disney movies.

"I don't have any children lass. They're mind. I watch them when my girlfriend is away because she won't watch them. She hates them" his voice had a sad, empty tone talking about his girlfriend.

"what?! How do you hate Disney? I'm pretty sure that's a sin.

"Right? She's insane!" they both laughed at that while she put the movie into the VCR. After many years of not seeing, or using one, she remembered how to use it, as if it were muscle memory.

She sat in one corner of her makeshift bed and wrapped a blanket around her legs. After a couple old 1950's trailers, the man receded from the kitchen with a large bowl of popcorn. "want anything to drink? Water, pepsi, beer?"

"it's really late sir. I don't want to keep you awake. It's 2 a.m"

He must've been startled at being called sir because he quickly and finally introduced himself. "oh gods how rude of me! Im Killian Jones. And it's not a problem. I would've been up and about with or without you here." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. She could tell he was lying but gave it up. "drink?"

"alright. Um beer is fine." She followed him into the kitchen. "I'm Emma by the way." She took the can from his hand

"I know. Your drunken friend said so earlier." He poured half a can of pepsi into a glass, and filled the rest with rum. She looked down to her unopened can and back to his glass.

"can I trade this for one of those?" this drew a surprised look from Killian.

"of course! I didn't peg you as a girl for hard alcohol" he took the can from her hand and put it back in the fridge, bringing a pepsi in its place.

"oh I can handle my liquor just fine. And after everything that's happened, are you surprised?" they both gave a small chuckle. How is that she has just met this man, yet she felt so comfortable with him? So at ease. As if they've always known each other. As if her former boyfriend, Neal, had never been a problem.

"I suppose you're right." He pushed the glass, soda, and bottle towards her. "I don't know how you like your drink. Might wanna mix that yourself so I don't poison you." He gave her another wink. He appeared to be just as comfortable.

After preparing their drinks, they both returned to the couch. "ah, I see you went with Peter Pan. An excellent choice." He sat down on the opposite side of the couch from her, placing his drink on the coffee table and the popcorn in between them. After a few moments of silence between them, he spoke again. "Emma?"

"yes?" she turned to look at him and saw a concerned look cross his face.

"what happened?" he didn't need to specify. She knew exactly what he meant.

"he's my boyfriend- or was- not anymore. That was his problem." She took a deept breath before beginning her story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Room**

"He's my boyfriend- or was- not anymore. That was his problem," Emma took a deep breath and looked down at her lap. "I'm sure you noticed he has a major drinking problem. He refuses to accept he's an alcoholic because he says he can stop whenever he wants; he just doesn't want to. When he's drunk, he gets insanely unreasonable and obscenely violent. The amount of times he has been arrested for getting into bar fights with random strangers is ridiculous. The guards at the jail know me by name because of how many times I have had to pick him up." She looked up at Killian and looked back down quickly. She didn't want him to see the tears threatening to fall. She'd had enough crying for one night. "About a week ago, I went over to my friend, Mary Margaret's, house with my other friend, Ruby. They um- they found some bruises he left on me. Well actually a lot of bruises. Not just some." Her voice suddenly became very shaky. "That night they convinced me that I need to break up with him. They tried to tell me to call the police but I- I couldn't. So what you saw tonight was how he took to the news." She couldn't contain them anymore. She felt his arms try to wrap around her. She flinched and pulled away instinctively. Then she allowed herself to fall into him, sobbing into his chest. "I know I should tell the police but I-I"

"Shh lass its ok. I understand. If anyone understands it, I do."

"You do?" she looked up at him and saw his eyes begin to well up.

"Follow me." He grabbed her hand and they walked past the kitchen and through another door which led to a small room, walls filled with bottles of rum, wine, whiskey, wine glasses, shot glasses, any kind of alcohol you can think of. Broken beer bottles and red plastic cups littered the floor. The room reeked of old booze. Wherever there was wall space not filled with alcohol, there were holes. "These aren't mine, and I only live with one other person." He looked to her face to see her put the pieces together.

"Your girlfriend." It wasn't a question. He was in the same boat as her.

He pointed to a small scar on his face. "Wanna take a guess as to who did this? With a broken bottle even" her jaw dropped. "I used to come in here when she was gone. Try to clean up in here and make this room usable. But I just gave up. This room is reflection of her. It's just as much a mess as she is. But at least when she is drunk, actually she is always drunk, but when she is at her worst, she comes in here. She doesn't take it out on me much anymore."

"You need to leave her" he began to interrupt but she stopped him. "No let me talk. Like you said, if anyone understands, I do. I know how hard this is. I know you love her much more than you should. But Killian, she is keeping you from becoming the best you you can be." She reached a hand up and held it against his cheek, "Killian, if I can do it, you can do it. We don't have to be alone. We can go through this together."

"I can't Emma! Milah and I have gone through too much together. We had such plans…" his voice grew more desperate at each word. "We wanted to travel the world. See everything there is to see. We wanted to have a family. We almost did… and she killed him because she couldn't stay away from the damn alcohol."

"I actually have a son. With him! For a long time I wouldn't break up with him because of Henry. I wanted him to grow up with a whole, happy family. Now, he is the reason I left. I can't risk Neal hurting my kid. Please do this. Do it for the son you could've had. Do this for you. One day you'll meet a woman who will show you why it didn't work with Milah. Do it for her."

"I'm supposed to give up everything I've built with Milah for a woman I've never met? Are you kidding me?!"

"You need to give up everything that's been ruined by Milah for the hope this woman could bring you." There was a long pause before she saw written on his face that she had won.

"She comes home tomorrow. I suppose it'll happen then." He turned and walked out of the wretched room and then turned back to look at Emma. "I suppose I've got a long day tomorrow now. We should get to bed. Goodnight lass"

She followed him out of the room and made her way to the couch, "Goodnight Killian."

The next morning Emma was woken up to the blinding sun searing through the open window, directly hitting her face. She stretched her body and let out an intense yawn before opening her eyes. Once she did, it took her a moment to recognize the room she was in. it wasn't her bed, or her room, or her place for that matter. Just then, the memories of the events from the previous night flooded her. She must have fallen asleep with the movie still on because the TV was still on. She got up from the couch and turned it off. As she did, and uncomfortable rumbling sounded from her stomach. _Damn when was the last time I ate?_ She moved into the kitchen to help herself to some breakfast. Some of the bottles from the previous night were still out so she put them where she saw Killian had fetched them.

Since Killian didn't keep normal breakfast food like cereal in the house, she managed to scrape up the ingredients for blueberry pancakes. After about three pancakes had finished cooking, she heard the slow, trudging footsteps of sleepy Killian. "Oh gods what is that glorious smell?"

"Pancakes. You didn't have any _typical_ breakfast foods so I helped myself. It that ok?" she answered

"As long as you make enough for me." He grabbed a couple plates and silverware sets and placed them in their respective places at the small table in the middle of the kitchen. "Sorry I don't have any coffee. I know most of you _Americans _just adore it, but I can't stand it. Milah and I prefer tea."

"I'm not much for coffee either. Usually the caffeine hot chocolate can give me is enough to wake me up. "Suddenly the door sprang open and a woman with dark brown, curly hair backed into the house dragging a large duffel through the threshold.

"Oh gods I am so tire- who the hell are you?!" she turned and faced the blonde girl invading her home.

"MILAH WHERE THE ABSOLUTE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! I COME HOME FROM WORK TO FIND YOU HAVE JUST BLOODY GONE OFF AGAIN?" Killian must not have realized how mad he was until he saw her. "Emma lass would you give us a moment?" he turned to go to the back room and Milah followed, stumbling. _Just like Neal._

"Of course. I'll be in here." Emma proceeded to finish cooking the rest of the batter as quickly as she could and cleaned up the dishes and food. As she did so, she heard the muffled voices escalate to clear shouts.

"_OH SO IT'S OKAY FOR YOU TO BRING HOME GIRLS BUT I CANT GO OUT FOR A FEW DAYS?"_

"_EMMA ISNT SOME GIRL I BROUGHT HOME. SHE NEEDED SOME HELP FROM HER DRUNKEN SPOUSE! SOUND FAMILIAR? "_

"_OH WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"_

"_THAT YOU'RE A BLOODY DRUNK! WE ARE _OVER_ MILAH! DONE!"_

Suddenly the voices lowered into muffles again and Emma commenced with her cleaning. She moved from the kitchen to the living room. She folded her blankets and sheets from the night before and stacked them neatly on the couch. She began feeling guilty for pushing at Killian to end things with her. _Why should I care what he does? I don't even know him. Ill likely never see him again. They were just fine before I came along._

_But I sure was glad someone encouraged me to leave Neal._

That was all she could tell herself as justification for what she did. In the midst of her moping, Milah came back out from the room with a newly packed bag, shot Emma a killer glare, then left the house. Emma flinched as the door slammed shut. Emma noticed Killian hadn't returned from the bedroom.

"Killian?" she peered around the door and found him sitting on the floor against the bed with his head in his hands. "Are you alright?" She walked in nervously, unsure of what to do. Should she comfort him? Or leave him alone? Or perhaps leave altogether?

"Oh Emma I'm so sorry you had to be here for that. I'm so sorry." he got up and wrapped his arms around her "I'm so sorry. You already had to deal with your own break up and now you were here for mine. Gods I'm so sorry."

She pulled away from his and grabbed his wrists, looking him dead in the eye. "What on earth do you have to be sorry for? _I_ told you to end things with Milah. I have no clue why you listened to me but you did. And it's gonna suck for a while being without her. But it sucks being without Neal for me too. But we just have to power through it. In the end, it's for the best. Neither of us should have to be in these unhealthy relationships anymore. Remember what I said last night? We can go through this together. We don't have to suffer alone."

He let out a deep sigh and hung his head. "Yeah. Yeah you're right. I'd much rather go through this with you than by myself"

"Good. Then let's go eat breakfast before it gets any colder."

"As you wish"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: im so sorry about chapter 2. i uploaded it a few days after i published the first chapter and then i didnt like how short it was so i deleted it. and then took way too long to finally publish it. well hopefully i dont take that long again but no promises. please leave some reviews (: i am completely improvising as i write so i love suggestions!**

As the weeks went by, the two subjects to heartbreak had grown close. In the very beginning, they were both rightfully depressed at the loss of their lovers, but quickly realized how much happier they could be. Their friendship started with small visits to each other's homes, neither of them wanting to leave when they did. Emma always had to leave to make sure her son, Henry, got to bed every night. However, on numerous occasions, Killian found himself asleep on Emma's sofa because he didn't want to leave. Every Friday, Killian would pick up Henry from school so Emma could finish up her paperwork from that week's bails. Then she would come home with pizza and the trio would watch whatever movie the boy wanted. As time went on, it became an unspoken tradition. Killian did all the fatherly things with Henry that Neal hadn't done: helped with homework, took him to the park, took him fishing, he even taught him to ride a bicycle. Needless to say, henry adored Killian.

* * *

"Hey Killian?" Emma pulled two mugs out from the cabinet next to the stove in her small loft and filled them with the steaming water from the screaming kettle on her stove. Wednesday morning tea became yet another tradition. Every Wednesday after Henry went to school, they'd sit down, have tea, and just talk. They never ran out of things to talk about. The conversations never got deep. Both their walls were too high to be broken so easily. They'd talk about pointless little things. Henry's crush on Grace, the headline story of the day's newspaper, her brother's and best friend's upcoming wedding, etc…

"Hmm?" he replied without looking up from the newspaper in his hand.

"Well, I've been thinking.. Gods this is going to sound crazy but um.." she stammered nervously. This caught his attention and he looked up from his paper, eyes filled with concern. "Well it's just, you're here all the time. And you're always helping out with henry, and you've already got a bunch of your stuff here anyways and with Mary Margret moving out to live with David, well I was just-"

Killian chuckled, "Emma lass you're rambling and you're not making much of any sense."

Her cheeks grew deep red in embarrassment. "Well I was just wondering if you wanted to move in. Mary Margaret is moving out so you can have her spare room. And you're here all the time anyways. I mean, aren't you lonely in that house all by yourself? Doesn't it hurt after…?"

This definitely caught him by surprise. She had a point. He practically lived there already. And his house seemed far too big and empty since Milah left. "oh, um… yeah. That's not a bad idea at all actually. Yes I think I'd like that." A grin spread across Emma's face. _Gods she is beautiful with that mesmerizing little smile she rarely gives. I cannot wait to be able to see that beauty every day_

_Woah what? Well… I can call my best friend beautiful. Right? _

While lost in thought, he hadn't realized Emma had asked a question. "I'm sorry darling I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat that?" he flashed a cheeky smile and put on his innocent face, knowing she would roll her eyes and sigh with exasperation. She did.

"You're impossible" but she couldn't stay serious for long. She never could with him. She reluctantly let out another one of her smiles and smacked his arm. "I was just saying that I'm spending all of Saturday helping Mary Margaret move out. So you can't move in until after Saturday. And if you'd like to help?" she gave him the little 'nudge-nudge-wink-wink' and gave him puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh I suppose I've got nothing better to do. But if I manage to scrounge up a hot date I'm ditching you." _Not bloody likely_.

"so I'm not pretty enough for Mr. Killian Jones?"

"are you offering? We've got plenty of time to kill" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. The home phone started ringing as Emma was pulling the sugar and tea out of the cupboard.

"There's ol' Captain Innuendo. I wondered when he'd make an appearance. Could you get that for me?" she nodded her head towards the phone.

"As you wish" he walked to the phone, but not without bowing dramatically before her. he picked the phone off its receiver and held it up to his ear, "Hello... She's a bit preoccupied… yes this is he… oh my…. Yes we'll be right there Mary Margaret….goodbye." his face grew pale and he hung up the phone. "sounds like Henry got into some trouble at school. Come on lass I'll drive you over."

Emma released an exasperated sigh. "Again? Ugh come on kid."

* * *

"You're lucky this suspension is only a few days kid." She wrapped her arms around henry's shoulders as they walked out of Ms. Blanchard's office. "what has gotten into you lately?" when he didn't answer, Emma pulled him to stop and dropped down to his eye level. "Henry I'm really worried about you. This is the fourth time you've been in trouble in the past two months. What's wrong?"

"Daddy hit when he got angry." He squeaked out with his seven year old voice. Her anger completely dissipated. She wrapped him in a hug and buried her face in his ruffled hair to hide the tears threatening to surface. She tried so hard not to let Henry see Neal when he got violent. She would send him to bed early or have Mary Margaret take him somewhere. She tried so hard, but she can only hide so much.

"Baby, daddy did a lot of things that people shouldn't do. Daddy shouldn't hit people when he got mad. Don't do the things daddy did. If you want someone to look up to, look up to Killian. Do what Killian does. He's a good man. He doesn't hit and he doesn't yell. Listen to Killian okay Henry?" he looked up at her, tears brimming those green eyes he got from Emma. He nodded and buried himself back in Emma's arms. She scooped him up and stood up to walk out to the car.

"Would you like me to carry him, lass?" Killian's voice appeared behind her. She turned to face him and saw a small smile on his mouth and in his eyes.

"How long were you there? How much did you hear?" she slowly slid her son into his arms and her face was deep red with embarrassment for the second time that day.

"enough." They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence. "when would you like to tell the lad what we discussed earlier?" Killian broke the silence once they reached the car.

"you guys are getting married?" Henry piped up with obvious hope in his voice.

"what?! No no we are definitely NOT getting married" Emma answered at the same time as Killian guffawed and said "no sorry lad. Not yet." He winked at the kid and they all slid into the car.

"what do you mean yet? We aren't even dating! We're barely getting over Neal and Milah!" Emma was taken aback by Killian's answer.

"Relax Swan. I was only jesting. So now that we've answered his question, are you going to answer mine?"

"oh yeah. Um I guess we can tell him now." She turned in the passenger seat to face the boy behind the driver's seat while Killian began driving them to _their_ apartment. "Since Mary Marg- Ms. Blanchard is moving out, I invited Killian to come live with us. He'll be living in her old room. She'll be moving out on Saturday so I guess he'll be moving in sometime after that."

"awesome! I love when Killian stays overnight! Now he'll be over every night!" Emma was ecstatic that henry was happy about the new arrangement.

"why do you love it so much when he stays? You're in bed for all of it anyway." Emma asked him.

"Because you only make pancakes when he stays"

"aww you make pancakes especially for me? I'm touched Emma" Killian teased. If he wasn't currently driving she would've socked him in the shoulder.

"shut it Jones. Speaking of pancakes, how does Granny's sound?" she knew neither of the boys would ever turn down granny's pancakes. As expected, everyone was in agreement and Killian changed course to head towards the diner.

"so does this mean I'm not in trouble?" Henry questioned.

"do you promise to do what Killian does, and not dad?" her son nodded. "then you're not in trouble."

They all began walking into the little diner but just before they reached the door, Killian grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her aside. "I really appreciate what you said to Henry. That meant a lot." Emma shrugged her shoulders like it was nothing. This kind of gratitude made her uncomfortable, as if she'd done something noble like save him from a dragon or something equally ridiculous. "no Emma I'm serious. I do care about the lad immensely. I am honored that you'd wish for me to be role model for him."

"I want him to have someone as level-headed as yourself to look up to; someone completely unlike his drunk father. There is not one else I'd rather have be that for my son." She gave him a half smile and walked into the nearly empty diner and sat down in the booth with Henry.


End file.
